President Biden speaks on July 13, 2024, in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, addressing the news that shots were heard at former President Trump’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
President Biden suggested Monday that it may have been a mistake to use the word “bull’s-eye” when discussing former President Trump on a campaign call last week, referring to the renewed attention surrounding those comments following the shooting at the former president’s rally.
NBC’s Lester Holt, in an interview with Biden, noted that a conversation about rhetoric in the 2024 race has begun in the wake of the attempted assassination of Trump.
“The truth of the matter is, I guess what I was talking about at the time, there’s very little focus on the Trump agenda,” Biden said, according to an advance clip released by NBC.
Holt responded that the problem is with the word “bull’s-eye.”
“Was it a mistake to use that word? I didn’t mean, I didn’t say spotlight, I meant center of attention,” he said, circling his hands in front of him. “I meant to say let’s focus on him, on what he’s doing, on his policies, on the number of lies he told in the debate.”
Biden used the word on a campaign call with donors on Monday as pressure mounted from Democrats for the president to drop out of the race.
“It’s time to put Trump on the spot,” Biden said on the call.
In the interview with Holt, Biden sought to contrast himself with Trump’s past comments and actions.
“I’m not the guy who said he wanted to be a dictator on day one, I’m not the guy who refused to accept the outcome of the election,” the president added, attacking Trump.
Biden responded when Holt asked him if he had taken a step back and done some soul-searching about things he had said that might incite people who are not balanced.
“How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he does? Do you stop saying anything because it might incite someone? I have not used that rhetoric,” Biden said.
Biden made a prime-time appeal last night, asking Americans to “calm down” after the shooting.
The Biden campaign suspended communications on Saturday after the shooting and plans to restart them Monday night after the interview with Holt airs in full at 9 p.m.
